45,000 deaths attributable to uninsurance
Posted by Don McCanne MD on Friday, Sep 18, 2009This entry is from Dr. McCanne's Quote of the Day, a daily health policy update on the single-payer health care reform movement. The QotD is archived on PNHP's website.
Health Insurance and Mortality in US Adults
By Andrew P. Wilper, MD, MPH, Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, Karen E. Lasser, MD, MPH, Danny McCormick, MD, MPH, David H. Bor, MD, and David U. Himmelstein, MD
American Journal of Public Health
September 17, 2009Conclusions
Lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44,789 deaths per year in the United States. The increased risk of death attributable to uninsurance suggests that alternative measures of access to medical care for the uninsured, such as community health centers, do not provide the protection of private health insurance. Despite widespread acknowledgment that enacting universal coverage would be life saving, doing so remains politically thorny. Now that health reform is again on the political agenda, health professionals have the opportunity to advocate universal coverage.
This study analyzed data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). This was a scientifically rigid analysis of a highly credible data source. The study concludes that the deaths of about 45,000 people each year are associated with the lack of health insurance.
A previous, widely-quoted study from the Institute of Medicine concluded that each year the deaths of 18,000 people are related to a lack of health insurance. This number was updated to 22,000 by a study from the Urban Institute. The current study indicates that 45,000 is a highly credible number and can be used as a reasonable estimate of the extent of the problem.
The precise number does matter for those individuals unfortunate enough to become a member of this statistical group. But an exact count is not important for those of us attempting to provide health care justice for all. We know that uninsurance kills people and that it must be eliminated.
Congress and the Obama administration have selected a model of reform that has no hope of insuring everyone. Their model includes hardship waivers that explicitly acknowledge this unacceptable deficiency. It is astonishing that they continue to reject a less expensive and more efficient model that automatically insures everyone: a single payer national health program. You would think that they would show some interest in a model that actually saves lives.
Subscribe to our blog's RSS feed.
About this blog
Physicians for a National Health Program's blog serves to facilitate communication among physicians and the public. The views presented on this blog are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of PNHP.
News from activists
PNHP Chapters and Activists are invited to post news of their recent speaking engagements, events, Congressional visits and other activities on PNHP’s blog in the “News from Activists” section.
Remembering Nick Skala
We at PNHP are terribly saddened to report the sudden and unexpected loss of our senior research associate, Nicholas Skala, who died on August, 8th, 2009. Nick was one of our nation’s most gifted and dedicated advocates for single-payer national health insurance. We invite you to share your memories and experiences of Nick while we redouble our efforts to bring about his vision.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.